Saturday was meant to crown Singapore’s FA Cup winners at Jurong East. Instead, the FA Cup final between Police SA and Gymkhana Gaulois will not be played on 17 October, after the Football Association of Singapore called it off with the PSI in the West region above 200. The third-place play-off at the same stadium is off too, and both will be rescheduled.
The two finalists earned their place at Jurong East on 4 October. Gymkhana Gaulois beat Bishan Barx 3-0, and Police SA edged South Avenue 4-3 in the other tie. Gymkhana’s Amirul Walid goes into the rescheduled final as the competition’s top scorer with five goals.
Why the amateur game stops first
The FAS haze advisory sets different limits for each level of the game. Amateur matches need the 24-hour PSI forecast at 200 or below and the one-hour PM2.5 reading in Band 1 or Band 2. Youth football is stricter, with Band 1 only and a forecast of 100 or below.
The forecast for Saturday from the Meteorological Service Singapore was a PSI of 150 to 230, which put the final on the wrong side of the line. At 5am on Saturday the 24-hour PSI read 185 in the West and 194 in the Central region.
The Singapore Premier League plays on, with checks
Professional matches can go ahead with one-hour PM2.5 readings up to 200. Haze checks start 12 hours before kick-off, with a final check 30 minutes out. A match is cancelled if the venue’s 24-hour PSI forecast is above 300 twelve hours before, or if the reading hits Band 4 seven hours or three hours before kick-off.
Three Matchweek 4 games are left this weekend, each judged against its own zone. Balestier Khalsa host Geylang International at Bishan Stadium at 7.30pm on Saturday. Geylang arrive top of the table with three wins from three, and Račić already has three goals. The last five meetings between these two produced 32 goals.
On Sunday, Tampines Rovers face Young Lions at Our Tampines Hub at 7.30pm. FC Jurong host Lion City Sailors at Jurong East at the same time, the weekend’s only West-zone fixture. Jurong’s eight-match winning run in the league was ended by Geylang, and they will be without Nur Adam Abdullah, who is out with an ACL injury.
The Kallang keeps its water shut
At the national sports hub, the pool and the basin are still closed. The Kallang has suspended the OCBC Aquatic Centre, the Water Sports Centre, the Kallang Football Hub, the outdoor courts at the Kallang Tennis Hub and all outdoor community facilities until further notice.
Its haze rule is blunt. When the PSI is between 201 and 300, every outdoor activity stops, including at the OCBC Aquatic Centre. Above 300, indoor activities stop as well.
ActiveSG sport facilities, shut for the haze, resume operations on 17 October.
Coaches count the cost
For the people who teach sport for a living, a week of haze is a week without pay. Swim coach Grayson Ong, 36, told CNA that more than 80 per cent of his lessons had been cancelled over the past one to two weeks. “If we don’t have lessons, it means we don’t get paid,” he said.
Freelance athletics coach Priscilla Boon, 30, has lost two to three hours of classes a day, CNA reported. “We don’t have any clue when this will end. Definitely, in the long term my income will be greatly affected,” she said. The National Instructors and Coaches Association has urged clients to pay coaches in full for cancellations made at the last minute.
